Rosneft’s ‘green’ investments’ amounted to 55 billion roubles in 2021
In 2021, Rosneft invested approximately 55 billion roubles in environmental protection and restoration activities.
The Company presented the updated Public Statement"Rosneft: Contributing to Implementation of UN Sustainable Development Goals," reaffirming its commitment to high social and environmental standards. The UN Sustainable Development Goals were taken into account in the development and approval of the new strategy "Rosneft-2030: Reliable Energy and Global Energy Transition".
Care for natural resources is one of the Company's top priorities. Every year Rosneft implements a number of measures and investment projects aimed at improving the environmental performance of its operations, minimizing its environmental footprint, and promoting biodiversity conservation.
In total, "green" investments aimed at increasing the beneficial use of associated petroleum gas (APG), improving pipeline reliability, efficient water management, optimizing waste management and land remediation exceeded 200 billion roubles in 2018-2021.
In 2021, Rosneft remediated over 470 hectares of legacy contaminated land, including over 90% by its own ecoservice.
Rosneft steadily increases production of Euro-6 fuelwith improved environmental properties. In 2021, the Ryazan Refining Company, the Saratov Refinery and the Ufa Refinery Group produced Euro 6 gasoline with improved environmental and operational propertiesin the total amount of 1.46 milllion tonnes, which is 12% higher than in 2020. Production and sales of Euro 6 fuel made it possible to almost halve total atmospheric emissions of sulfur.
In 2021, the Company improved a number of key environmental indicators compared to the previous year. The volume of gross pollutant emissions was reduced by 12%, and the accumulated drilling waste volume was reduced by 23% due to recycling about 4.5 million tonnes of drilling waste. Over 1.1 million tons of oily waste was processed, which is more than 29% higher than in 2020.
In its activities, Rosneft gives priority to reducing emissions of methane , a greenhouse gas with an impact potential that is dozens of times greater than that of carbon dioxide on a unit basis. Group subsidiaries use drones (unmanned aerial vehicles) equipped with laser scanners and video cameras to control methane emission sources and additionally introduce ground-based monitoring methods.
Rosneft puts a special focus on activities aimed at biodiversity conservation, particularly projects to study bio-indicators of ecosystems and unique fauna representatives at risk of extinction. As part of the National Project “Ecology” , the Company continues projects to study, monitor, and protect Arctic animals that are indicators of the region's ecosystems (wild reindeer, polar bear, Atlantic walrus, and white gull).
In 2021, spring and summer field studies of polar bear and walrus were conducted on the Alexandra Land Island (Franz Josef Archipelago), the Oran Islands and Cape Zhelaniya of the Novaya Zemlya Archipelago further to the fieldwork carried out in 2020. Route and aerial surveys of the wild reindeer habitat were conducted in the valleys of the Kheta and Khatanga rivers, and animal migration routes were studied in the territory of two municipal districts of Krasnoyarsk Region. Field studies under the project for studying and preserving the biodiversity of Arctic ecosystems are planned to continue in the summer-autumn of 2022.
In 2021, with a view to preserving biodiversity and replenishing aquatic bio-resources, the Company released over 120 million of fingerlings, including most valuable Siberian sturgeon, valuable Atlantic and Black Sea salmon, broad whitefish, common whitefish, starlet and muksun, in the regions of Company operations, , in particular, in the Komi Republic, Krasnoyarsk, Krasnodar and Perm Territories, Murmansk, Tyumen and Samara Regions, the Republics of Bashkortostan and Tatarstan, and the Khanty-Mansi Autonomous District - Yugra. Rosneft traditionally pays particular attention to reforestation, since forests are natural sinks of greenhouse gases. In 2021, the Company and its subsidiaries planted about 9.3 million seedlings of various tree species.
Minimizing freshwater consumption is another strategic priority of Rosneft that is compliant with the UN Sustainable Development Goals.. This is facilitated by the infrastructure modernization and application of the best available technologies. In 2021, the Company continued to improve the quality of discharged wastewater through the construction and reconstruction of water treatment facilities, including by bringing the reconstructed treatment facilities up to design capacity and maintaining the efficiency of wastewater treatment at existing facilities.
As part of progressing Rosneft's corporate culture, the Company continues to focus on the responsible attitude of its employees and contractors to the environment and environmental safety. These activities include development of environmental literacy and engagement of employees and their family members in environmental protection actions, also aimed at raising awareness of responsible consumption of natural resources. The company takes part in large-scale campaigns such as Green Spring, Earth Hour, We Clean the World, and others.
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The key components of the Company's long-term environmental agenda are the strategy "Rosneft-2030: Reliable Energy and Global Energy Transition," which the Company's Board of Directors approved in at the end of 2021, and the Environmental Development Concept until 2035.
Among the main priorities of the new strategy is the reduction of the carbon footprint. The Company aims to achieve net carbon neutrality for Scope 1 and 2 emissions by 2050. The Rosneft-2030 strategy also formulates short- and mid-term horizons for the climate agenda: by 2025 - reduction of absolute greenhouse gas emissions by 5%; by 2030 - reduction of methane emissions intensity to below 0.2%, zero routine flaring of associated petroleum gas, and reduction of unit greenhouse gas emissions in the Exploration and Production segment to below 20 kg CO2-eq/boe; by 2035 - reduction of absolute greenhouse gas emissions by more than 25% as compared to the 2020 base year.
Rosneft's environmental objectives for the period until 2035 include:
- minimizing the environmental footprint, including through the introduction of the best available technologies resulting in the improved waste management and land remediation, , and better treatment of wastewater and emissions;
- introducing the principles of circular economy ("closed cycle economy");
- protection and preservation of ecosystems and biodiversity. An integrated approach employed by the Company provides for elaboration and application of technologies aimed at reducing the environmental impact.
Rosneft
Information Division
July 22, 2022